Course Overview
This film and television production course is designed to equip you with a range of skills that will enable you to operate effectively in the professional environment of television and film production.
Guided by our highly experienced teaching staff, many of whom are practising professionals within the industry, you will explore a range of styles and genres in documentary, drama-documentary and film-fiction production. The course maintains a balance between providing you with the essential theoretical background and giving you the skills and techniques required in practice.
You will develop your talents in screenwriting, production management, cinematography, sound-recording and post-production. Key to this course is a focus on vocational training, and the techniques you will learn are used in television and film production today. With access to the excellent on-campus facilities, you will shoot film and video, from high-definition through to domestic digital.
Post-production is usually non-linear, which offers the opportunity to produce a Dolby 5:1 stereo soundtrack. This course is very much about providing you with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed within the film and television industries, but it is also about giving you the opportunity to enjoy the dynamic and stimulating environment offered by Cambridge School of Art.
Core modules year One
• Beyond Documentary
• The Language of Film and Television
• History of Cinema Year two core modules
• Reality and Fiction
• Debates and Practices Year three core modules
• Research Project
• Personal Project
• Major Project
Year one optional modules
• Introduction to Film Production
• Anglia Language Programme
Year two optional modules
• Motion Graphics
• Screenwriting: the Short Film
• TV Studio Practices
• The Role of the Producer
• Directing Studies
• European Cinema and Identity
• Anglia Language Programme
Additional Course Information
Additional specialist learning in screenwriting, directing, producing, motion graphics and multi-camera studio operation are also included in the course provision. Student coursework is project based and reflects the technological skills required for employability in this sector. Practical work is combined with contextual studies to provide students with good communication skills and an independent approach to their creative work.
In the first two years, you discover a range of styles and genres in documentary, drama-documentary and fiction production. In these productions we emphasise the exploration of social issues. You develop basic skills in screenwriting, production management, cinematography, sound-recording and post-production before selecting your chosen specialisms. There are specialist options in directing, producing and multi-camera studio operations.
We shoot on both film (16mm) and video (from high-definition through to domestic digital). The final semester is devoted solely to the production of a series of group projects that will be screened publicly at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge.
Key Facts
Final award
Faculty
Location
Duration
Assessment
You will be assessed in terms of the films and TV programmes you produce, written analyses of your work, in which you will discuss the contexts of the programming you have made, the lessons you have learned whilst producing it, and evaluate the programme - with your peers - in terms of its success in reaching your defined audiences.
As much of your production will be in groups, where each student performs a defined role, you will also be assessed in terms of your contributions to each others' production.
Facilities
BA (Hons) Film & Television Production benefits from: a fully-equipped, 3-camera TV Studio with a full lighting rig, 'professional-standard gallery', mixer, autocue, and brand-new, multi-purpose scenic backdrops suitable for current affairs, magazine programmes and dramas; a large four-waller film stage with overhead lighting, tracks, dollies and green screens and sets for flats; over 30 Final Cut editing suites; Pro-Tools; a full range of HD and SD location cameras (including Steadicam,) location lighting and sound-recording equipment.
The equipment is maintained and managed by a team of technical staff and full training is provided.
Special features
Taught by experienced industry professionals - producers, directors, directors of photography and a commissioning editor - we bring extensive experience from the BBC and the independent production sectors.
You will begin in your first term by making programmes, developing, through a rigorous process of making and analysing a range of programmes types, high-level skills in both factual (documentary) and dramatic genres. By the final year, you will be able to produce significant programming on location, in the multi-camera studio and in the film stage. This hands-on process, coupled with group-based refection and evaluation, produces programme makers with a very wide range of applicably skills.
Associated careers
This course will equip you with the skills and knowledge required for employment and self- employment within animation, film, television, photographic, computer games and related fields.
This degree emphasises the role of the producer as a manager - of time, people, resources, risk and quality. We strongly believe that this emphasis gives graduates of this degree a clear advantage in the employment market. Not only will you have a greater understanding of the real-life actors that influence programme making, you will also have a set of managerial skills which will help you if you decide to work as a freelance producer or director, or set up your own production company. You will also, in the course of the degree, learn a set of highly-valued skills including editing, camera-work, lighting, sound, production management and programme finance, any of which will help you find work in the TV and film industries.
Enquire Now
Studying at Cambridge School of Art is the first step in landing your dream job, so go ahead and drop us a line today - your career starts here...
